Twelve-year-old Bitsy Burroughs has vowed to turn over a new leaf, cause no more calamities, and live at peace with everyone. But while spending a week with her friends Garrett and Ellie on Amelia Island, Florida, the neighborhood bully pushes her too far, and Bitsy's promise of peace quickly comes to an end. With a bruised body and a deflated ego, she must gather her nerve and compete in Amelia Island's July Fourth Talent Show. When strange things begin happening, Bitsy and her friends reluctantly join forces with the bully, Ernie, and his twin sister, Bernie, to discover the dark secrets of a nearby abandoned house. A talking cockatoo and a retired police dog help them along the way as they search for a ghost, run from a witch, and attempt to find out what's so important about a mysterious family portrait, all of which teaches Bitsy the true meaning of the “best things in life.”
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
...an excellent amateur sleuth "ghost" story that targets the younger middle school student. -- Harriet Klausner
...comparable to the Nancy Drew type books without the unrealistic story lines...believable story with real sounding children... -- Elece Hollis, Christian Book Previews
Bitsy is a great character, filled with passion and creativity...the mystery combines just the right amount of tension... -- Jan Fields, MyShelf.com
There's a new feisty mystery-solving hero for young readers, and her name is Bitsy Burroughs. -- Hilton Head Monthly, August 2005
...comparable to the Nancy Drew type books without the unrealistic story lines...believable story with real sounding children... -- Elece Hollis, Christian Book Previews
Bitsy is a great character, filled with passion and creativity...the mystery combines just the right amount of tension... -- Jan Fields, MyShelf.com
There's a new feisty mystery-solving hero for young readers, and her name is Bitsy Burroughs. -- Hilton Head Monthly, August 2005
About the Author
Vonda Skinner Skelton is a freelance writer, a Christian women's conference speaker, and a playwright. She won the Blue Ridge Christian Writers' Conference first place scriptwriting awards for 2001 and 2002. She lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful story for pre-teens,
By Kathi Macias (Homeland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Bitsy & the Mystery at Amelia Island (Silver Dagger Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Author Vonda Skinner Skelton doesn't just know how to relate to kids-she remembers what it's like to be one! Bitsy & the Mystery at Amelia Island is a delightful story for pre-teens that will carry them through from start to finish, while subtly instilling the positive message that life is about more than money or looks. As Bitsy visits her friends on Amelia Island, she learns about looking beneath a person's gruff exterior and finding a wounded heart longing for companionship. Even as the entrepreneurial twelve-year-old tomboy fails in a business venture and comes out on the losing end of a fist fight with the town bully, Bitsy's adventures lead to an entirely new understanding of what it means to "enjoy being a girl." Despite talking birds, retired police dogs, and goose-bump raising tales of ghosts and witches, Bitsy, with the help of her friends, manages to unravel a mystery and, in the process, discovers some life-changing secrets about herself.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bitsy Rocks!,
By
This review is from: Bitsy & the Mystery at Amelia Island (Silver Dagger Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Bitsy and the Mystery at Amelia Island is a delightful book, with a compelling plot and well-drawn characters. I enjoyed reading it as much as my two daughters did. We love Bitsy, as she's the perfect mix of imperfection, gutsiness, and goodness. Something about her just makes you root for her--every misguided step of the way.
Very enjoyable. Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If You Enjoy Ramona Quimby and Nancy Drew, You'll Like Bitsy,
By
This review is from: Bitsy & the Mystery at Amelia Island (Bitsy Burroughs Mysteries) (Paperback)
Bitsy Burroughs needs money. Her struggling parents are unable to come up with the hundred dollars required for her camp fees, so the spunky twelve-year-old enters herself in a talent contest and, as a backup plan, starts her own business. (Bitsy's Bangles are monogram necklaces with a "double-your-money-back" guarantee.) Finances are never secure in Bitsy's world, but she's optimistic as she takes a week to visit her friends Garrett and Ellie on Amelia Island, Florida.
The song Bitsy has chosen to perform in the talent show, "I Enjoy Being A Girl," couldn't be further from her own personality, but she's determined to mold her image to fit, making an effort to change her hair color and even consider the possibility of (shudder) actually wearing makeup! The feisty Bitsy has recently resolved to "live in peace with everyone" until she encounters Ernie, the neighborhood bully. For Bitsy, being a "sissy" is never an option, and she's prepared to back that up with her fists. Unfortunately for her new "girly-girl" image, Ernie is more than a match for her, and she emerges from the fight a bloody, black-eyed mess. To further complicate the situation, rumors of ghosts are thwarting the adults' efforts to establish a resource center for handicapped youngsters next door, and of course Bitsy and her friends feel they must help investigate. Author Skelton never condescends to her young audience. She especially shines in the action and crisis scenes, where it's touch and go for Bitsy or her friends. (Watch for an early nail-biter that involves being buried in the sand.) In this second Bitsy mystery, Vonda Skelton has again given young readers a thoroughly three-dimensional character to cheer for--and occasionally laugh at--in a warm family atmosphere. As young womanhood looms on the horizon, Bitsy is making an effort to control her hair trigger temper, but she's not going to give up being a tomboy without a fight!
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